My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More importantly, I earned my pay, it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person could have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dream of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb (番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field--- except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.The writer’s first job was ___________.
| A．to stand down the fairway at the golf course |
| B．to watch over the sugar-cane plantation |
| C．to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields |
| D．to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them |
The underlined word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means ___________.
| A．difficult | B．boring | C．interesting | D．unusual |
The writer learned that ________ from his first job.
| A．he should work for those who he liked most |
| B．he should work longer than what he was expected |
| C．he should never fail to say hello to his owner |
| D．he should show respect and faith to the people he worked for |
________ gave the writer self-esteem.
| A．Having a family of eight people |
| B．Owning his own golf course |
| C．Bringing money back home to help the family |
| D．Helping his father with the work on the plantation |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．He wanted to be a successful golfer. |
| B．He wanted to run a golf course near his house. |
| C．He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation. |
| D．He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick. |
Werewolves (狼人) aren’t the only creatures(生物) affected by the moon’s cycles. A full moon slightly affects people’s sleep, reports a Swiss team of scientists. Even people’s sleep in a lab without windows experienced a small shortfall in sleep once a month.
To test the moon’s effect, 33 adult volunteers of both sexes and various ages spent several nights in a sleep lab. As they slept, researchers recorded their brain activity, eye movements and hormone (荷尔蒙) levels. On nights closer to a full moon, the subjects took an average of five minutes longer to fall asleep, and slept for 20 minutes less. In addition, brain activity decreased by 30 percent during the sleep stage that the brain normally uses to recover from its daylight work. And levels of hormone that help control sleep cycles dropped. On these nights, the sleepers complained of poor sleep quality even though they were unaware of the moon’s cycle. On the bright side, not a single participant turned into a werewolf.
The Swiss team doesn’t know how the moon affects sleep. The gravity (重力) of the moon causes ocean tides to rise and fall. But that force is too weak to affect sleep, Gajochen says. He believed some body’s biological clock may be tied to the moon cycles. There may be another explanation, says David Dinges. This sleep researcher at the University Of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia says that the body clock is very sensitive to light at night. Volunteer’s sleep could have been affected by exposure to extra moonlight before arriving at the lab.The writer mentioned “werewolves” in the first paragraph to ______.
| A．prove that the moon’s cycles exist |
| B．draw people’s attention to the report |
| C．introduce a similar creature to readers |
| D．warn people not to sleep alone in the lab |
What happened to the volunteers during the experiment on a full moon?
| A．They slept for about five minutes longer. |
| B．Their brains never recovered from their work. |
| C．They complained they were too tired to sleep. |
| D．Their brains were not so active as they were |
The last paragraph is developed mainly by ______.
| A．analyzing causes | B．explaining differences |
| C．making comparisons | D．following the time order |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．the sleeping problems caused by the moon’s cycles |
| B．the influence of the moon on human sleeping habits |
| C．the moon’s effect on sleeping and its possible reasons |
| D．the ways to improve sleep quality on a full moon night |
His youth was nothing like yours, unless your name happens to be Justin Bieber or Emma Watson. At 14, Kirk Cameron was receiving 10,000 letters a month while acting as Mike Seaver in the sitcom (情景喜剧) Growing Pains. For children of the 1980s, every boy dreamt of having his brown leather coat, the modern parents, and the humor of Mike Seaver.
Kirk was making $ 50,000 a week but had to deal with various things resulting from increasing popularity. “Kirk had a couple of ardent fans who followed and shadowed him. They kind of crossed the line and frightened all of us to some degree,” says another star of the sitcom.
In 1986, the kid described his life to a magazine: “I’m just going to have to get used to the uncomfortable parts, like not having a lot of privacy. Interviewer wants to know if being famous is making me breathless and I answer no, it isn’t—it is a lot, but I can handle (处理) it.” However, people considered him the happiest guy on the planet. He was driving around the city in his favorite car. He flew to foreign countries for vacations. He tasted various foods in different restaurants on streets.
In a recent interview, Kirk admitted that he once viewed the world as though he were the centre of it and began expecting things to be done for him. “Anything I wanted was given to me. That was what I expected because that was my reality,” he says. Though it was not easy for Kirk, he managed to treat himself as an ordinary person, with years of life experience.The underlined word “ardent” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．crazy | B．patient |
| C．angry | D．lost |
Kirt Cameron was thought to be the happiest guy because of ______.
| A．his high income | B．his popularity |
| C．his life style | D．his great dreams |
What does Kirt Cameron think of the early himself?
| A．Humorous. | B．Self-centered. |
| C．Ordinary. | D．Happy. |
What might be the best title for this passage?
| A．Live a Free Life as You Wish |
| B．A Hard Life Lacking in Privacy |
| C．To Be Ordinary Though Famous |
| D．Annoying Popularity with Troubles |
It took some time for spring to arrive but now it’s here that UK’s gardens are enjoying it. Many flowers that would usually be over by now are still at their best. Here are some of the best gardens right now.
Kew Gardens, London
The rock garden is one of the places to head for at Kew right now. It will be at its peak in the days ahead. The garden has waterfalls and streams over the land, and many plants and flower buds are all at their best. Equally those who can not be missed are the flowering cherry (樱桃) trees.
Open daily 9:30 am-6:30 pm, adults £16, children free.
Wentworth Castle Gardens, near Barnsley
A yellow carpet surrounds Wentworth Castle at the moment, as the daffodils (水仙花) are still in full bloom. Another wonderful spot is the Victorian flower garden, created from an old bowling (保龄球) green in the 19th century.
Open daily 10:00 am- 5:00 pm, adults £5.50, children £2.95, family £12.50.
Harlow Carr, Harrogate
The earlier bad weather means many daffodil varieties were extremely late, but at Harlow Car plenty of the plants can be found at the moment. The garden also has one of the longest streamside plantings in the country.
Open daily 9:30 am-6:00 pm, adults £8.50, children £4.25, family £20.70.
Bon Stewart, Newtownards
There are great smells as well as great sights at Bon Stewart: Lady Londonderry, who created the garden in the 1920s and 1930s, love plants with a sweet smell. So go up to rhododendron (杜鹃花) hill. It’s one of the best places here right now.
Open daily 10:00 am-6:00 pm, adults £6.63, children £3.31, family £16.00.To enjoy pleasant-smelling flowers, you might visit ______.
| A．Kew Gardens | B．Harlow Carr |
| C．Bon Stewart | D．Wentworth Castle Gardens |
You can probably enjoy the flowers beside the stream in ______.
| A．Kew Gardens and Bon Stewart |
| B．Harlow Carr and Kew Gardens |
| C．Bon Stewart and Harlow Carr |
| D．Wentworth Castle Gardens and Bon Stewart |
What can we learn about Wentworth Castle Gardens?
| A．It offers a great place to play bowling. |
| B．It is surrounded by flowering cherry trees. |
| C．It provides the shortest visiting time in a day. |
| D．It charges a couple with a child at least £ 13.95. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To attract tourists to visit. |
| B．To introduce different flowers. |
| C．To express love for nature. |
| D．To compare different gardens. |
I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft (分裂的) lip, and when I started to go to school, my classmates were constantly laughing at me. I couldn’t even blow up a balloon.
When my classmates asked, “What happened to your lip?” I’d tell them that I’d fallen as a baby and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different.
Then I entered the second grade, and Mrs. Leonard’s class. She was round and pretty. Everyone loves her. But no one came to love her more than I did. And for a special reason.
The time came for the yearly “hearing tests”. I was nearly unable to hear anything out of one ear. So I cheated. I had learned to watch other children and raised my hand when they did during group testing. The “whisper test” required a different trick: each child would go to the door of the classroom, turn sideways and cover one ear with a finger. And the teacher would say something very quietly from her desk, which the child would repeat. Then the same thing was done for the other ear. Nobody checked to see how tightly the untested ear was being covered, so I pretended to cover mine.
My turn came. I turned my bad ear to her, covering the other ear with my finger, and then gently backed my finger out enough to be able to hear. I waited, and then heard the words that God had surely put into her mouth; seven words that changed my life forever.
Mrs. Leonard, the pretty teacher I loved, said softly, “I wish you were my little girl.”The author’s classmates were always laughing at her because she ______.
| A．was born different |
| B．went to school at an old age |
| C．could not blow up a balloon |
| D．failed to win her teacher’s love |
In the “whisper test”, the students had to ______.
| A．pass on the teacher’s words |
| B．take turns to receive the test |
| C．cover both ears when tested |
| D．watch other students carefully |
When hearing Mrs. Leonard words, the author felt ______.
| A．astonished | B．disappointed |
| C．embarrassed | D．moved |
What might be the best title for this passage?
| A．My Life of Being Different |
| B．A Small Expression of Love |
| C．A Round and Pretty Teacher |
| D．Words to Correct My Mistake |
“Soon, you’re going to have to move out!” cried my neighbor upon seeing the largest tomato plant known to mankind, or at least known in my neighborhood.
One tiny 9-inch plant, bought for $1.25 in the spring, has already taken over much of my rose bed, covering much of other plants, and is well on its way to the front door.
Roses require a good deal of care, and if it weren’t for the pleasure they give, it wouldn’t be worth the work. As it is, I have a garden full of sweet-smelling roses for most of the year. bushes must be pruned(剪枝) in early spring, leaving ugly woody branches until the new growth appears a few weeks later. It was the space available in the garden that led me into planting just one little tomato plant. A big mistake.
Soil conditions made just perfect for roses turn out to be even more perfect for tomatoes. The daily watering coupled with full sun and regular fertilizing(施肥) have turned the little plant into a tall bush. The cage I placed around it as the plant grew has long since disappeared under the thick leaves.
Now the task I face in harvesting the fruit is twofold; First, I have to find the red ones among the leaves, which means I almost have to stand on my head, and once found I have to reach down and under, pick the tomatoes and withdraw(缩回) my full fist without dropping the prize so dearly won. I found two full-blown white roses completely hidden as I picked tomatoes in June. But they were weak and the leaves already yellow for lack of light.
Here I am faced with a painful small decision: To tear up a wonderful and productive tomato plant that offers up between ten and twenty ripe sweet tomatoes each day or say goodbye to several expensive and treasured roses. Like Scarlett in Gone With the Wind, I’ll think about that tomorrow.．What are the requirements for the healthy growth of rose?
| A．Frequent pruning and fertilizing. |
| B．A lot of care and the right soil. |
| C．Tomato plants grown alongside. |
| D．Cages placed around the roots. |
．The writer planted the tomato because _________.
| A．there was room for it in the garden |
| B．the soil was just right for it |
| C．it cost only $1.25 |
| D．the roses’ branches needed to be covered |
．This year the writer’s roses were __________.
| A．removed from the rose bed |
| B．largely hidden under the tomato plant |
| C．mostly damaged by too much sunlight |
| D．picked along with the tomatoes |
．By saying “the prize so dearly won” in paragraph 5, the writer wants to ________.
| A．express her liking for the roses |
| B．show the hardship of growing the roses |
| C．show the difficulty in picking the tomatoes |
| D．express her care for the tomatoes |
．In the situation described in the text, one good thing is that ________.
| A．the roses cost the writer little money |
| B．the writer has a daily harvest of tomatoes |
| C．someone will help the writer make the decision |
| D．the writer can now enjoy both the roses and tomatoes |